Movie Review:The Bling Ring

This movie had me wondering. On the one hand, it is showing in art-house theaters throughout the country and showcases the work of Oscar-caliber talent. On the other hand, the film re-enacts one of the most pathetic, misguided, spotlight grabs in the history of tabloids. So I found myself on the horns of a dilemma: Is The Bling Ring a smart indie film exploring the dark underbelly of celebrity, or is it an extremely well-produced E! True Hollywood Story? In truth, it’s a bit of both.

If you don’t know the story of the Bling Ring, I don’t know what to say. I will simply applaud you for rising above the wretched refuse and traveled the high road. For the rest of us, this is the story of the group of misguided, bratty, fame-obsessed nobodies who made headlines robbing the houses of celebrities. The operative words in that sentence being ‘made headlines.’ Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and others were victims of this band of entitled wanna-bes who craved nothing more than to live the lives of the celebrities they worshiped.

There is a problem here, and it’s societal and parental and educational and cultural and cinematic. It’s a problem director Sofia Coppola recognizes and yet exacerbates. These kids wanted a lifestyle that was unattainable, so they stole it. As a result, they made headlines; and as a result, they got famous, had a movie made about them, and may very well end up with the lifestyle they wanted to begin with. My only hope is that any other wanna-be, fame-seeking thieves are too dim to comprehend the irony. It’s a 5.